John I (1267 – 10 February 1330) was the count of Namur from 1305 to 1330. He was a member of the House of Dampierre, the son of Guy of Dampierre, Count of Flanders and Marquis of Namur, and his second wife Isabelle of Luxembourg. John was the father of Blanche of Namur, Queen of Sweden and Norway. He was the elder brother of Guy of Namur, whom he sent to command the Flemish rebels against the French Kingdom in the 1302 Battle of the Golden Spurs.
Life
John’s father, Guy of Dampierre, made John the governor of Namur on 5 November 1297. Guy ceded his rights to the county on 2 October 1298, making John the Marquis of Namur.
In 1302, John took over command of the rebellion started by his father, Guy of Dampierre. Together with his younger brother, Guy of Namur, he participated in the Battle of the Golden Spurs.
The French king, Philip IV, attacked the Flemish once again in 1304. John’s half-brother, Philip of Chieti, gathered an army consisting of Flemish soldiers and positioned the army by Mons-en-Pévèle. In the ensuing battle, the Battle of Mons-en-Pévèle, John commanded the left wing of the Flemish army.
In September 1290, John was betrothed to Blanche of France, daughter of Philip III. Instead, John married Margaret of Clermont, daughter of Robert, Count of Clermont and Beatrix, Dame de Bourbon, in 1307. He was Margaret's second husband. She died after two years of marriage, in 1309.
John's second wife was Marie of Artois, daughter of Philip of Artois and Blanche of Brittany. They were married by contract in Paris on 6 March 1310, confirmed Poissy, January 1313. John granted her as dower the castle of Wijnendale in Flanders, ratified by the Count of Flanders (his half-brother, Robert III) in 1313.
John died on 10 February 1330. He was succeeded by his son John II as count of Namur.